Cambridge Theatre

History of the Cambridge Theatre

The Cambridge Theatre in London is a modern theatre, facing Seven Dials, built using steel and concrete and is notable for its elegant and clean lines of design. The theatre was refurbished in 1950—the original gold and silver decor was painted over in red, and candelabras and chandeliers were added. In 1987, in order to restore the original decor, the theatre was once again refurbished, this time by Carl Toms.

Productions at the Cambridge Theatre have been characterised by relatively short runs interspered with several dark periods and the theatre was used for trade film shows in the late 1930s and again in 1969 as a cinema.

Notable productions include Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence in 1963 (678 performances), Bruce Forsyth in Little Me in 1964 (334 performances) and in the late 1970s the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago ran for 590 performances. More recently the 'rock'n'roll' musical Return to the Forbidden Planet which was based on Shakespeare's The Tempest and used 1950s and 1960s songs opened in September 1989 and lasted until early 1993, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical—beating the favourite, Miss Saigon.

The controversial show Jerry Springer - The Opera has recently finished at the Cambridge Theatre, and was the longest running show on record at the theatre. This was followed by a month run of illusiotist Derren Brown's Something Wicked This Way Comes tour, before the London premiere of Flying Music's Dancing In The Streets which opened on 7th July 2005. This will finish its run on 22 April 2006 prior to the transfer of Chicago moving across Theatreland from the Adelphi Theatre, to continue its London run into its tenth year. It will open at the Cambridge from Friday 28 April, following its closure at the Adelphi on 22 April.